No party for me

My mom convinced a 16 year old girl to give up her expected baby for adoption. The girl was thinking of either keeping it or aborting it. Two rather incongruous choices, and proof that a flaky 16 year old should not be making those decisions, and therefore should not be having sex. Go mom. My mom, not the teenage mom.

I'm anti-abortion and I'm a Democrat, if you want to label me. I voted mostly Democrat this last election.

I'm also anti-war. I cannot see how one could be anti-abortion and pro-war. The two are related vices. I am opposed to both.

But I'm pro-gun. Guns should be freely available to citizens, for an armed citizenry is a powerful check against tyranny (and foreign invasion, a precedent for justified war).

I think I'm a Jeffersonian at heart. I have a thing for yeoman farmers, and I think that communities for the most part should be able to decide their own fates.

There is good reason for a strong federal government. It is necessary to prevent states from revoking the rights of individuals.

For example, Lincoln strengthened the federal government in order to prevent states from passing laws that allowed slavery. This strong federal government, 100 years later, after another dark period of repression and racist wars in our history, was able to ensure that all citizens could exercise their right to vote, and to get an education, regardless of state laws that would try to prevent it.

Unfortunately centralizing authority into the hands of a few is a recipe for tyranny. If much power is in the hands of a good man, all is well. However, such men rarely seek such power.

Along with a strong, nationwide government, have come strong, nationwide, even worldwide, mega companies. Because the owners of these companies do not live in the same neighborhood, state, or even country as their business, they have no ties to the communities in which they operate. And so they don't care about the people they sacrifice on the altar of Mammon.

For example, I think the massive bank bailouts and takeovers that have happened recently, would not have been necessary had we known our bankers. Had the guy who handled our retirement money and home loans lived in our neighborhood, he would have a strong incentive to not steal our money: we would know where he lived.

And while the federal government is answerable to the people, these mega-companies do not depend on our votes. They do not need to respect the right to assemble, the right to free speech, or (and I even agree with this one) the right to bear arms.

These companies nullify our votes by buying up senators, congressmen, and presidents. We cannot afford to compete with them on that level. But we can compete with them on another.

Unlike the Federal government, which can take our money without compensating us with a service or product, and imprison us if we refuse to pay — these mega-companies depend on our purchases. When you buy gas, shop at Wal-Mart, and buy bacon, you empower these mega-corporations. You give them the money they need to buy off our government. Buying locally is therefore patriotic, akin to dumping tea in the ocean (which I oppose on environmental grounds).

That being said, there is no political party for me, and I doubt that there ever will be. There is no group of people, no elected official, who will solve the world's problems. That is up to us as individuals, which is something Obama has emphasized from the beginning.

p.s. Not all mega-corporations are bad and need to be opposed. Imports and international trade can be good supplements to local living.